Mats Wilander believes the return of Ivan Lendl can unlock the missing ingredient that could propel
Andy Murray back up the world rankings and provide the Scot with a fitting swansong.
The three-time Grand Slam champion has bemoaned his struggle for consistency since returning from career-threatening hip surgery and currently sits at 85 in the world. Murray insists he is still capable of competing with the Tour’s finest stars but his failure to back up some promising results with deeper runs in major tournaments has left him hugely frustrated.
It has led the former world number one to revisit a partnership with Lendl that helped him to win some of the sport’s biggest prizes, and Wilander can see why the Brit has turned back to his former coach for inspiration. Speaking about that Wilander said:
“I think Ivan Lendl is not coming back to Andy Murray to help him to win another Grand Slam. I think he's coming back because he sees that Andy Murray is not utilizing all his talent. He's not playing the tennis that will help him do well or do better again. And Andy Murray to me most probably feels that. But what is it? What is it that Andy Murray needs to change? Is it hitting the ball harder? Is it to have a different attitude? Is it coming to the net more? Whatever it is, something is not clicking in Andy's game."
He continued:
“And even Ivan Lendl, I think, believes that he might be able to help him. This doesn't mean to me that if they don't win a Grand Slam together, this will be a disappointment. It's just positive that both of them are willing to go back to what was successful in the past. Let's see how far it takes Andy Murray because he's 36 years old and it's not that easy to keep improving. But he's having fun and Ivan Lendl all around him seems to be a good medicine for him to keep having fun."